Words
by Eat a Taco
Summary: Important words and phrases in the life of Remus Lupin.
1. Werewolf

**Disclaimer:** Not mine! Never has been. The end.

**A/N:** Got this idea right before I was about to go to sleep the other night. : ) Multi-chapter words and phrases in the life of Remus Lupin. Not in chronological order, so I guess you could kind of think of them as one-shots. They're in order of number of words. And please don't get on my back about chapter two. It's a contraction. (Ex: They're) Anyway, I bet you're bored out of your skulls by now. So now I give you:

**Words**

_Important Words and Phrases in the Life of Remus Lupin_

**Werewolf**

The doctors didn't even bother to shield the truth from him. Despite the fact that he was very young, he remembers it. Every line the doctor's said and every doctor and nurse down to the details of the nurse's penciled eyebrows.

He had been seven years old, which was older then many people assumed. But it was still young, and he never really recited the story to anyone. Because of this, almost everyone assumed that he'd been in the woods.

No.

He'd been outside his house.

His house had been a quaint cottage on the outskirts of the city, one with a weathered wooden fence, a small front yard, a stone path leading to the house, and only one floor. As a young boy, he had often playing with his trains out there, eagerly waiting for his father to appear at the gate as dusk set in. He would come over and bewitch them to blow their whistles and run circles around Remus has he ruffled his light brown hair.

It was a surprise when the _crack_ that accompanied his father didn't carry his father at all.

Looking back, Fenrir Greyback looked a lot less wolfish than he did now. And looking back, it was very interesting that the first transformation he had experienced had not been his own.

Greyback had slightly more pointed teeth, true, but besides that he looked perfectly normal. He had good posture, long hands, and black hair. He spoke articulately and his eyes held no trace of yellow- they were merely pools of blue that glittered greedily with the setting sun.

Obviously, Remus had looked up eagerly to see his father. He was surprised when he saw the stranger.

"Hello," he had said kindly to Remus, who was still idly pushing his trains as he stared at him. "I'm a friend of Daddy's." Remus slowed his train to a stop and watched as the man drummed his fingers on the gate. The way he was drumming them was different than Remus had ever seen. Every time he forced one finger down after another they curved closer and closer together. "I knew him when he was younger," he continued, filling in the silence between them.

His eyes were yellowing slowly and his grin widened.

The sun was gone by now, and a huge orange-colored moon was coming up over the horizon. His shoulders were starting to hunch and he opened the gate.

"Mummy," he called, looking behind him at the house. "Mummy!" he started called more urgently.

"I'm not sure your dear _mummy_ can hear you," he said maliciously.

It was so sudden.

The second the moon spread itself over the horizon, he jumped. He jumped forward, fingers curling in ever more, fur spreading rapidly across his face which lengthened in an instant.

He was on Remus even faster.

His paws pinned his shoulders to the ground, keeping him immobile. The pupils of his eyes grew smaller and he slashed Remus' face clean across, the blood staining his hair a grotesque red. The spots on his shoulders where Greyback had previously clung to seeped blood onto his small robes. Remus tried to struggle as the monster threw him onto his back and slashed him again, ignoring the strangled cries as he threw Remus around like a rag doll.

There was a flash of light and Greyback was thrown off of him. Remus turned, struggling to breathe and face streaming with blood when he saw his father, wand drawn and advancing on the wolf. He fired a serious of spells without uttering a word, hatred etched across his face.

Blood fell from the werewolf's snout as it ran again. It knocked his father clean off his feet and advanced on Remus again. He felt the teeth pierce his shoulder.

The last thing he saw was his father chasing after the wolf, who had cleared their fence.

When he awoke, he was surrounded by white walls. His father and mother were above him, father leaning on a crutch and his mother sobbing into her hands. He knew.

"Mum," he said. "Dad." It was more of an address than anything. He was not questioning who they were or if he was alive. Just ready to talk. "I'm a werewolf, aren't I?"

His mother grabbed her father's shoulder and cried.

His father stared at him for a long moment. Remus let him think, staring back and rustling the sheets on his hospital bed.

"Yeah, Remus." He ruffled his hair the way he always did. Someone had cleaned it. It acted like it always did. Falling back into place.

"I don't feel different," he said quietly.

"You're still a normal person, Remus." He paused. "Remember that." He paused again. "Always."

Remus trusted him then.

The next full moon he didn't.

Normal people were not smuggled into the forest or into St. Mungo's once a month. Normal people didn't go insane or turn into a wolf. Normal people did not lose all their money on ways to keep him away from people during transformation.

It was a miracle he'd even made it into school. And even though he'd received a proper education, he had been shunted from job to job for all his life.

That one word had determined his destiny.

Werewolf.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – –

**A/N:** How was it? Please review!

**Special Thanks:** To Paul, for staying with me despite rumors. And Sunni, for being awesome and listening. : )


	2. They're Dead

**Disclaimer:** Not Mine. And no, I don't feel like being creative today. (Yeah right)

**A/N:** Look! They're! It's a contraction! Deal with it!

**A/N2:** I'm sorry. That sounded kind of mean. And to everyone screaming at me for more of The Courtyard, I apologize. It's coming. Very slowly. But still coming. Almost done. And The Jumbled Musings is breaking for a bit. Otherwise, here you go, guys! Deal with it: )

**They're Dead**

He'd been familiar with the phrase for a while now. He had been 12 when he had first come into contact with it, during the Summer. A stuffy Ministry official had arrived at his doorstep. He had not accepted the invitation inside when Remus offered, he merely stood there in a sorry excuse for muggle clothes, adjusting his glasses in a very formal fashion. He had started by explaining where his father and his partners were, using a lot of fancy words that didn't even need to be there.

"The five of them were in the Forbidden Forest when they were found," he had said. "I'm so sorry son." He paused for a long time, long enough for Remus to guess what was coming next. "They're dead."

The official left it to Remus to tell his mother, who was out buying secondhand books for Remus' third year.

She had come back rosy-cheeked with a triumphant smile on her face, carrying some very battered books in her arms. She gave Remus a half hug as she searched for a place in their small house to put the stack.

"Mum?" He paused, shuffling his feet. Could no one else break the news to her? Why had the official left _Remus_ to tell his mother about the death of her spouse? His mother, oblivious, merely nodded in acknowledgment as she found a place to put his books.

"Remember when Dad went out with his friends to search for that murderer?" His mother stumbled a bit.

"Yes," she said. Her speech was slow, deliberate. As if she guessed what was coming but was going through every possible excuse in her mind, as if she was hoping Remus would merely question him on where he is.

"They're dead." He shocked himself then. Before it hadn't sunk in. Now, saying those words, it sunk into his head that he was never going to see his father again.

– – – – – –

"They're dead."

This time, it was in reference to James and Lily.

He had walked into headquarters, clutching the letter in his hand. He was shaking with rage.

"They're _dead!_" he shouted at the top of his lungs. This time he was not quiet and shy about it. He was angry at the world, despite the downfall of Voldemort. Did anyone care? Was no one concerned with the fact that in the downfall of Voldemort had caused the loss of three people, all Order members? And did anyone care that Sirius was a traitor?

"James and Lily and Peter are DEAD!" Was no one there? Was no one there to hear him? Was no one there to understand? "SIRIUS is the one that KILLED them! We TRUSTED him! I trusted him!"

There were happy calls and shouts from the back. Remus ran through the deserted house and thrust open a door to the backyard. A few members of the Order were out there, and Remus immediately noticed Dedalus Diggle, at the center and firing off shooting stars from his wand. Quite a few people were singing and stamping with joy.

"Remus! We missed you! Come join the party!" Someone tried to hand him a drink. He thrust the hand away "Where's Sirius and James and Pettigrew and all? And Lily?" Remus looked at him with dark eyes.

"The last three are dead." A hush fell over them. "The first killed them." He paused again and looked at the incredulous faces. "Dumbledore told me."

"I'm sorry Remus," Sturgis told him. "But could you please cheer up a celebrate with us? The Dark Lord is _gone_."

"But so are James and Lily! And Peter! Do we not care about them?"

"Do we not care about the Prewetts? Or the Bones'? Or any of the countless others?" He paused. "We care, Remus. But look at what's happened! Look! No one else is going to be murdered! He's gone!"

A little subdued, they went back to cheering and celebrating, Diggle sending off more shooting stars.

"They're dead," he whispered to himself. "I can't believe they're dead."

You could not imagine the fear he felt, then, when he found that Voldemort had once again risen to power. He could not help but think of the imaginary casualties in his mind, trying as hard as he could not to envision their fates. But he still woke up a night, his face wet.

"They're dead!" he would whisper to the ceiling, totally confused. "They're dead."

He became more and more comfortable with the fact that there was going to be casualties, of course, but the thought that some of his closest friends were going to die still plagued him. His heart was torn apart one night when he saw Tonks in his dreams, at the mercy of a death eater with blood trickling down her face. . .

It was not the dreams, however, that made him shake and shed a tear.

It was Sirius.

Remus was shaking the second Sirius had arched towards the dias. Even Dumbledore had stopped. In an instant, he was gone. Like he was never on this Earth. The veil rustled a bit, but looked no different than before. His heart was shaking and he thought of everyone he had ever lost. He stared longingly at the veil and tore himself apart by reciting the names of everyone who had died. Everyone he had known. Starting with his father. Ending with that moment.

"They're dead," he whispered. His voice was shaking. "They're dead."

– – – – – –

**A/N:** For some reason, that seems really short. It probably is. So sorry about that. : ) I hope you liked it, please review. And the next chapter's going to be happier. (Maybe...mwa ha ha) Thanks for reading!

**Special Thanks:** To Salz, for believing me, and to Ramzes, for being the first to review.


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